Friday, July 13, 2012

Secondary Public Wifi via DD-WRT

Goal

To have a secondary WiFi network for guests, on a separate radio, in a separate location from the main router.

Hindrances

I have a single CAT5 run to the opposite side of the house, plugged into a media center. Using a switch to run both the AP and the HTPC seems like a waste. I'm also not a pro at static routing, so simple is better.

Hardware needed

All I used was a DD-WRT capable router and couple net cables.

Diagram

Setup

Setting up the separate DHCP server was pretty easy following their wiki article.

Extra Recommendations

After setting it up, it makes sense to ensure the address the new LAN uses to reach the main gateway has heavy QoS to prevent guests from overwhelming LAN requests. If you need services to be reachable from both Wifi APs, such as remote controls on phones, simply create a public port that only the internal addresses can utilize. An example is forwarding port 8080 to my HTPC, but only allowing source addresses from inside my two LANs to utilize it. TCP [source]192.168.1.0/24 8080 [destination]192.168.1.50
Don't forget to turn on AP isolation so guests cannot access one another.

Results

After being in use for many months, I get no complaints from guests, and I find myself utilizing the extra stretch of signal everyday. My Android roams between the two networks as needed depending on where I'm at without noticeable delay.

Verizon Extender

You may have noticed the cellular extender on my network, it extends a 1x digital area around my house for all Verizon devices. It functions as an extension of their network, and when connected to its data service, all access is tunneled to their network before leaving an endpoint. Its great for testing, and using it as a trigger in Tasker to turn on my WiFi has greatly increased my battery life and seamless access for high speed data access on my Android. Its reach of 1x signal covers both my G and N areas, so it always triggers as I drive up the driveway or walk into range from off our property.